Traditional Loukoumi Bites Sikoutris 400gr

Traditional Turkish Delights of Syros "Sykoutris"
Syrian Turkish Delight
"A sweet story in the salty waters of the Aegean"

Origin: from Asia Minor - Istanbul
Name: Turkish delight, from the Turkish word lokum and is characterized by a dessert made of sugar and starch.
Reference to Turkish delight is made in reputable dictionaries.
The art of making it arrived in Syros with the first refugees from Chios, and it is said that the first cauldron entered in 1832. The first official seal of a donut maker appears in 1837, by Stamatelakis.
The Turkish word prevailed internationally, because long before 1832 this product had become known to the world from its production in Turkey. The craftsmen of Turkish delight were mainly Chians who transferred their art to the city, where they made Turkish delight there and passed it on to the next generations as they learned it from their ancestors.
It is no coincidence that mastic and rose sugar rahat with almond were the first and most important Turkish delights from Turkey and Syros, raw materials that along with mastic were abundant in Chios.
The ingredients of Turkish delights, few and simple: water, sugar and starch.
For many decades, Turkish delight is prepared in a single stable way. Friday, especially the first years, was difficult and required knowledge and passion. Since 1970, the laboratories have been somewhat modernized (fuel, method of evacuation, transport, etc.), but not the technique.
The three basic ingredients are boiled in copper cauldrons in built-in fireplaces with firebricks or in the past with mud and stone and the baker is obliged to mix them constantly until he finds in a unique way from his experience that he is ready to go down from the fireplace. Then he empties it into a wooden crate (sheet metal), lined with flour and stays there until it cools down.
The next day it is cut with large iron knives on a counter lined with powdered sugar (loukoumosdia). From the cauldron to the hands of the consumer, the Turkish delight goes through various stages: cutting, placing in cardboard boxes, weighing, dusting, sealing, wrapping with jelly, labels.
Over the years, the varieties of Turkish delight flavor have increased. Mastic, rose, bergamot, rose sugar, mandarin, coconut, almond, pistachio, walnut, etc.
The famous, from the beginning, Syrian loukoumi, now holds the role of ambassador for Syros with dignity and permanence, which made it known to the whole world.
The element that made the Syrian Turkish delight unbeatable is said to be water. On a barren, arid island, brackish water from the few springs of water, gave the successful and unique identity to this product that was now naturalized Syrian. It tried to produce Turkish delight with rain and well water in another city with a different climate and yet it failed. Turkish delights are made in many cities in Greece and abroad, but one is the only one, the Syrian one.
Many other professions developed around the Turkish delight. From the Asia Minor Catastrophe until the end of the 60's, there were many loukoumia handicrafts in Syros and many shops selling it on the beach that employed a lot of staff. Usually, the handicrafts were family businesses and the art was passed down from generation to generation. There are handicrafts that started their life in Smyrna long before the catastrophe and for the fourth generation continues in Syros.
The first official Association was founded in Syros in 1942 with the patron saint Agia Glykeria celebrating on May 13 (mentioned in the 1st statute of its Association). Later, informally, Saint Athanasios was appointed patron saint (January 18) due to the existence of the homonymous spring in Ano Syros.
The Turkish delight, in addition to being a representative gift of the island, also played a social, religious and family role. Everyone remembers the improvised oven with the coals that, with its steamed windows, kept the straw with the Turkish delight inside warm. Beloved by the dozens of workers who bought it early in the morning before the factory whistle blew. It is present at weddings, celebrations, memorials. No traveler is meant to cross the island by boat and not buy a box of Turkish delights from the baskets with the white t-shirts that literally climb on the ships.
Also, no one can ignore the other Syrian product of the donut makers, the halva pie with thyme Syrian honey and freshly baked almond.
We all have to respect tradition. She teaches us that even a product, such as Syrian delicacy, if not altered for economic reasons, can forever bear the weight of the name of the place that was born as a Greek product, Syros.
Dina Sykoutri - Andriomenou
Text: https://www.greekqualityproducts.gr/